Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Baiji & Refinery Retaken As Iraq Forces Push Into Northern Salahaddin

Iraq’s joint forces won a major victory during the third
week of October 2015 retaking the town of Baiji, which had been contested for
over a year. Not only that, but they continued to push north towards Shirqat
district and into southern Kirkuk’s Hawija, which are both Islamic State
strongholds. On the other hand, the Anbar offensive continued to churn through
many of the same areas, while IS also picked up its attacks in Diyala.

There were 142 security incidents in Iraq reported in the
press from October 15-21, 2015. Baghdad had the most attacks with 50, followed
by 28 in Anbar, 23 in Salahaddin, 18 in Diyala, 9 each in Babil and Kirkuk, 4
in Ninewa, and 1 in Basra.

Salahaddin had the most deaths with 84. After that there
were 48 fatalities in Baghdad, 24 in Kirkuk, 16 in Diyala, 15 in Ninewa, 12 in
Anbar, and 9 in Babil. More people died during the week, but the government did
not report them or they were not covered in the media. In Anbar for example,
where there was major fighting everyday with several security operations
simultaneously going on there were no casualties mentioned for five out of
seven days of the week.

Violence
In Iraq By Week 2015

Date

Incidents

Dead

Wounded

Jan 1-7

205

466

464

Jan 8-14

177

733

518

Jan 15-21

193

403

528

Jan 22-28

197

492

899

Jan 29-31

91

306

568

JAN

862

2,400

2,977

Feb 1-7

159

408

688

Feb 8-14

178

443

566

Feb 15-21

175

592

383

Feb 22-28

178

391

730

FEB

690

1,834

2,367

Mar 1-7

186

373

595

Mar 8-14

156

398

656

Mar 15-21

170

1,304

505

Mar 22-28

186

273

406

Mar 29-31

76

205

219

MAR

775

2,553 + 4

2,381 + 150

Apr 1-7

130

218

422

Apr 8-14

140

674

531

Apr 15-21

175

729

717

Apr 22-28

167

497

483

Apr 29-30

51

162
+ 7

182
+ 299

APR

662

2,287

2,335

May 1-7

159

627

450

May 8-14

161

420

549

May 15-21

127

963

387

May 22-28

114

341
+ 1,499

348

May 29-31

38

66

164
+ 646

MAY

599

2,417 + 1,499

1,898 + 646

Jun 1-7

133

431

476

Jun 8-14

126

522
+ 405

394

Jun 15-21

141

365

373

Jun 22-28

162

306

474

Jun 29-30

61

122

189

JUN

623

1,804

2,012

Jul 1-7

161

435

719

Jul 8-14

140

384

570

Jul 15-21

109

359

597
+ 4,024

Jul 22-28

145

527

590

Jul 29-31

53

193
+ 260

203

JUL

608

2,166

3,079 + 4,024

Aug 1-7

154

650
+ 760

298

Aug 8-14

133

756

640

Aug 15-21

135

345

354

Aug 22-28

136

342

296

Aug 29-31

59

112
+ 5

169

AUG

617

2,205 + 760

1,757

Sep 1-7

139

285

352

Sep 8-14

144

368

394

Sep 15-21

123

323

488

Sep 22-28

128

190

258

Sep 29-30

39

106
+ 19

147
+ 8

SEP

573

1,291 + 314

1,647 + 3,003

Oct 1-7

105

291

398

Oct 8-14

145

254

388

Oct 15-21

142

208

279

Security
by Province Oct 2015

Provinces

Oct
1-7

Oct
8-14

Anbar

12 Incidents

72 Killed: 2 ISF, 70 Civilians

3 Wounded: 3 ISF

4 Shootings

2 IEDs

1 Suicide Bomber Killed

1 Suicide Car Bomb Destroyed

10 Car Bombs Destroyed

19 Incidents

26 Killed: 1 Hashd, 3 ISF, 22
Civilians

28 Wounded: 3 Hashd, 12 Civilians,
13 ISF

5 Shootings

4 IEDs

2 Mortars

1 Artillery

16 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed

10 Car Bombs Destroyed

Babil

7 Incidents

4 Killed: 1 ISF, 3 Civilians

26 Wounded: 4 ISF, 22 Civilians

5 IEDs

6 Incidents

7 Killed: 2 ISF, 5 Civilians

36 Wounded: 5 ISF, 31 Civilians

1 Shooting

4 IEDs

1 Car Bomb

1 Grenade

Baghdad

48 Incidents

94 Killed: 4 ISF, 90 Civilians

241 Wounded: 13 ISF, 228 Civilians

13 Shootings

24 IEDs

3 Sticky Bombs

24 IEDs

3 Sticky Bombs

2 Suicide Car Bombs

2 Car Bombs

1 Suicide Bomber Killed

58 Incidents

69 Killed: 1 ISF, 1 Hashd, 2
Sahwa, 65 Civilians

196 Wounded: 3 Hashd, 3 Sahwa, 5
ISF, 185 Civilians

16 Shootings

28 IEDs

8 Sticky Bombs

1 Grenade

1 Stabbing

1 Rockets

Basra

3 Incidents

11 Killed: 11 Civilians

30 Wounded: 30 Civilians

1 Shooting

1 Sound Bomb

1 Car Bomb

1 Incident

1 Sticky Bomb

Diyala

4 Incidents

40 Killed: 40 Civilians

75 Wounded: 75 Civilians

1 Shooting

1 Car Bomb

1 Car Bomb Destroyed

8 Incidents

38 Killed: 1 ISF, 1 Hashd, 36
Civilians

58 Wounded: 58 Civilians

2 IEDs

4 Mortars

1 Car Bomb Destroyed

Kirkuk

13 Incidents

10 Killed: 10 Civilians

16 Wounded: 2 Peshmerga, 14
Civilians

5 Shootings

4 IEDs

2 Rockets

4 Incidents

12 Killed: 2 ISF, 10 Civilians

1 Shooting

1 IED

KRG

-

2 Incidents

35 Killed: 35 PKK

2 Turkish Air Strikes

Maysan

-

1 Incident

1 Killed: 1 Civilian

1 Shooting

Ninewa

6 Incidents

49 Killed: 7 Peshmerga, 42
Civilians

3 Shootings

9 Incidents

39 Killed: 4 Peshmerga, 35
Civilians

1 Wounded: 1 Peshmerga

6 Shootings

Qadisiyah

-

1 Incident

1 Killed: 1 Civilian

1 Sticky Bomb

Salahaddin

12 Incidents

11 Killed: 1 ISF, 10 Civilians

7 Wounded: 1 Civilian, 6 ISF

7 Shootings

2 IEDs

1 Mortar

35 Incidents

26 Killed: 6 ISF, 8 Hashd, 12
Civilians

69 Wounded: 13 Hashd, 22
Civilians, 34 ISF

10 Shootings

11 IEDs

1 Suicide Bomber

5 Suicide Car Bombs

11 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed

7 Car Bombs Destroyed

Provinces

Oct
15-21

Anbar

28 Incidents

12 Killed: 3 Civilians, 3 Hashd, 6
ISF

8 Wounded: 3 Hashd, 5 Civilians

5 Shootings

1 Mortar

1 Rockets

2 Car Bombs

14 Suicide Bombers Killed

7 Suicide Car Bombs Destroyed

23 Car Bombs Destroyed

Babil

9 Incidents

9 Killed: 3 ISF, 6 Civilians

35 Wounded: 14 ISF, 21 Civilians

1 Shooting

6 IEDs

2 Car Bombs

1 Car Bomb Destroyed

Baghdad

50 Incidents

48 Killed: 2 Sahwa, 46 Civilians

149 Wounded: 4 Sahwa, 145
Civilians

10 Shootings

29 IEDs

4 Sticky Bombs

1 Grenade

1 Mortar

1 Car Bomb Destroyed

Basra

1 Incident

1 IED

Diyala

18 Incidents

16 Killed: 1 ISF, 15 Civilians

21 Wounded: 21 Civilians

3 Shootings

6 IEDs

1 Sticky Bomb

5 Mortars

Kirkuk

9 Incidents

24 Killed: 1 ISF, 1 Hashd, 22
Civilians

1 Wounded: 1 Peshmerga

3 Shootings

2 IEDs

1 Mine

Ninewa

4 Incidents

15 Killed: 5 Civilians, 10 ISF

2 Shootings

11 IEDs

Salahaddin

23 Incidents

84 Killed: 1 ISF, 18 Hashd, 65
Civilians

65 Wounded: 3 ISF, 25 Civilians,
37 Hashd

6 Shootings

5 IEDs

1 Sticky Bomb

1 Mortar

4 Suicide Bombers Killed

3 Suicide Motorcycle Bombers
Killed

1 Suicide Car Bomb Destroyed

10 Car Bombs Destroyed

In Anbar the government’s forces made some headway in
northern and southern Ramadi, but were also stuck in others. During the week Albu
Risha was finally cleared after eleven days of fighting. The Howaz neighborhood of Ramadi was
reached on October 18, and the joint forces were said to be just 500
meters away from the Anbar Operations Command by October 21. The government
was also able to free 350 people in the Thar
Thar district who were besieged by insurgents. At the same time, in Ramadi the
residential area of the Tamim neighborhood was cleared for the second time, and
the ceramics factory for the third time. The Albu Aetha Bridge and Albu Jassim
were freed for the second time as well. The push through Albu Faraj continued
even thought it was declared cleared on October 6 and 14. The joint forces made
another attempt to clear the Baghdadi area. It’s important because the Ain
Assad Base is just to the west. Likewise, a new push was made on central Garma
in eastern Anbar, which the government has tried to take since March. With all
that fighting only 12 people were reported killed and 8 wounded, showing the
effect of government censorship.

Violence remained at a low level in Babil with just 9
incidents there during the third week of October. At the same time, three of
those attacks involved car bombs. On October 19
two went off in Yusifiya,
and two days before one was dismantled.
These types of incidents have increased in the province during the on going IS
car bomb campaign.

South Baghdad was the most violent region of the province
during the week. There were 17 incidents there including mortar fire on an
outer village and 10 IEDs. East Baghdad had 10 incidents, 6 of which were IEDs
that were the work of the Islamic State. The north had 9 incidents including a
car bomb being dismantled. The center and west had 6 incidents each, and two
IEDs were dismantled in undisclosed locations in the governorate.

Violence In Baghdad Oct 15-21, 2015

Center: 6 – 1
Shooting/Robbery, 1 Sticky Bomb, 2 Kidnappings, 2 IEDs

East: 9 – 1 Shooting/Robbery,
3 Shootings, 5 IEDs

Outer East: 1 – 1 IED

North: 7 – 1 Car Bomb
Dismantled, 1 Sticky Bomb, 1 Shooting, 4 IEDs

Outer North: 2 – 2 IEDs

South: 11 - 2 Kidnappings, 2
Shootings, 8 IEDs

Outer South: 6 – 1 Grenade, 1
Mortar, 2 Shootings, 2 IEDs

West: 6 – 1 Robbery, 2 Sticky
Bombs, 3 IEDs

Unknown: 2 – 2 IEDs

Diyala witnessed the most violent week since the middle of
May. There were 18 attacks there from October 15-21. IS unleashed a barrage of
mortars on Abu Saida and Mukhisa for five out of seven days. The former is an
IS base and the latter is nearby. It was one of the rare weeks where no car
bombs went off in the province, but there were six IEDs including one in a market in Baquba that killed 5 and
wounded 11 on October 19.

The major story of the week was the retaking of Baiji in
Salahaddin. The town had been bitterly fought over since June 2015, and a
massive operation by Hashd, ISF and Sunni tribes finally swept through the area
in just a matter of days. Baiji itself was finally cleared on October
20. That was on top of the refinery finally being cleared days before. Not
satisfied with that, the joint forces continued to push north into the Makhoul and
Hamrin Mountains and Fatah in northern Salahaddin. Another force went east and
cleared a few towns in Hawija, which is in southern Kirkuk. This was the
biggest victory since Tikrit was taken in March. The Hashd seemed to have learned
from that operation as they employed several thousand local tribal fighters to
hold areas that were cleared perhaps hoping to avoid the looting and property
destruction that followed the taking of Tikrit.

There have been car bombs 17 out of the first 21 days of
October. There were thirteen straight days of vehicle bone improvised explosive
(VBIEDs) from October 9 to 21. During the third week of the month Anbar and
Salahaddin were again the main targets as IS attempted to use car bombs against
the government offensives. There were 31 VBIEDs in Anbar. Two were being disarmed
by the ISF when they exploded, while the other 29 were blown up before reaching
their targets. In Salahaddin 11 were destroyed all in the Baiji district. One
was dismantled in Baghdad, and then there were three more in Babil with one
being discovered before its detonation.

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About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com